


empty promises (soniplier)

by orphan_account



Category: markiplier - Fandom
Genre: A heist with Markiplier - Freeform, Amy Nelson - Freeform, F/M, Mark Fischbach - Freeform, Mark Fischbach Egos, Markiplier - Freeform, Other, Who Killed Markiplier?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29017032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: mark's son seems to forget something he's been gnawing at for weeks
Relationships: Mark Fischbach/Amy Nelson
Kudos: 1





	empty promises (soniplier)

"i swear i will remember to take my medicine, mom. no need to remind me anymore. i'm nine years old, now." zack strained his dialogue and ran his hands in a frustrated manner through his hair and down his face, clapping them onto the kitchen counter. amy smiled half-heartedly, trying to come to a compromise with her son. nothing was working, "okay. you need to remember though, okay? especially tomorrow."

tomorrow. the premiere of a heist with markiplier two. a massive, fancy, banquet hall filled with professional executives and vips. also known as, zack's worst nightmare.

"what's up?" mark waltzed down the stairs, greeting his family. "it's getting late zee, you should head to bed." he suggested, chewing on a piece of gum and shoving his phone in his pocket.

the boy swiftly folded his arms on top of the counter, looking between his mom and dad, trying to wait until mark knew about the ADD medication situation before he felt content enough to rest himself.

any broke the silence, setting her phone down, "apparently, this guy wants us to stop reminding him to take his ritalin." she revealed in a smug and sarcastic tone, looking at her boyfriend for a response.

mark stopped chewing his gum and froze, squinting his glasses-covered eyes for a moment, and before he could even get a word out, zack interjected.

"okay listen it wasn't exactly like that i just thought that you know it- like- it gets annoying having to be reminded like i don't know it makes me feel dumb i wasn't trying to sound mean or anything i just think that if-"

he rambled, eventually letting his words melt and stir within each other and slowly become quieter with every syllable.

"breathe, buddy," mark softened his voice, sounding like thick honey, "and you promise you won't forget?"

zack kept his head down, avoiding eye contact. he hid his face in sudden embarrassment, "yeah, i promise."

mark understood he most likely didn't want amy to say anything, so forth the conversation was left at that.

\-----

the next day was a rush. they had to be ready and prepared by 3:00pm. it was a two hour drive to the venue, and the premiere started at 6:00pm, which gave them an hour time gap.

however, they had to leave early. tyler didn't have a ride. his car was in the shop, and mark, being the good friend he was, didn't have a problem with giving tyler a lift. so, out of the house by 3:00pm, there by 5:30pm.

amy was the first to be ready, so she helped zack fix his hair and made sure he looked decent.

"the white shirt looks good on you bud, you wanna wear the black or brown pants?" he pondered for a brief moment, "i wanna wear the black ones." zackery finalized, grabbing the slacks and rushing to his bedroom bathroom to finish off his look.

he walked out of his bathroom, awaiting an approving response from amy.

"they look great!! we may have to do something with your hair though, you got lots of it just... sticking up everywhere." amyiplier, earning a giggle from zack.

without a warning, mark entered his son's bedroom to amy sitting at his desk, and zack standing in the door of his bathroom.

"ames, will you make sure there's no wrinkles on the back of my shirt? you both look amazing, by the way." he smiled a bit, crouching so that she could see mark's back.

"nope, you're good."

"thanks babe."

\------

"you guys ready? cool, okay, we need to get tyler. you guys get everything? have everything? do everything? the dogs go out? sweet okay let's go."

mark didn't even wait for an answer, almost as if he was doing a self check rather than asking.

\------

upon arrival, tyler had strutted ahead of the three into the building, greeting, being greeted, yada yada. the young boy tugged on amy's shirt a little, "you alright hun?" she wanted the clarification, "bigger than i thought." he squeaked out quietly, pulling at his shirt collar and ears being flooded with chatter and conversations. of course, mark was immediately escorted to where he was supposed to go, shown who he was supposed to meet. professional stuff for a professional person, you feel? there was a bit of time between when they arrived, to when the premiere started. once it did start, it was too much. everyone in the banquet hall, people going up to the front of the room to give speeches one by one.

loud. loud. loud. too loud. way too loud.

zack fiddled with his particularly skinny fingers, drumming them on the edge of his water cup and the clothed surface. there were six seats at each circular table, at one was mark, amy, zack, ethan, tyler, and kathryn. their table was somewhat in the middle of everything... so... bad. mark was busy making conversation with a couple of producers, talking over the production process and spewing intelligent and witty comebacks to employees and directors. everyone, as well, catching up with a few individuals they met on the set of heist two.

and that left zack to sit by himself. the olive skinned boy stacked his cutlery and toyed with his fork out of bordem mixed with a bit of irritation. there were far too many adults and fancy people for his liking, let alone just people. amy finished her conversation with one of the directors, making her way back to the table. as she sat down, tucking her hair behind her ear, she noticed her son's leg bouncing and head wobbling, "you okay bud?"

"i'm bored, and it's too loud, and i'm tired, and i'm hungry and," zack laid his forehead on the table before he could finish his statement. he shifted his head to the side, looking up at amy. she scratched his back. "i know, zee. but they're bringing out the food soon, i would assume." zack sat up and rested his elbows on the table, using a hand to support his chin. amy could see how hard he was struggling to keep calm. yet, she though nothing of it. the two of them sat in silence for a little bit, amy waving to people from across the room and smiling at everyone who walked past. she turned back to the smaller boy next to her, who was kneeling on the chair, popping his tongue in a rhythm he couldn't remember the lyrics to.

amy put her hand on his frail thigh, "zack,"

this drew the attention of the nine year old, however, not enough to make him turn his head. he just widened his eyes to signify he wasn't blatantly ignoring her. "did you take your meds before we left?" she questioned it softly, enough to mild his anxiety, but not enough to dissolve it thoroughly. she didn't seem angry, only a wee bit perturbed. he moved his legs out from under him, kicking them, feet unable to touch the ground.

missing one day of prescription isn't the end of the world. sure, he'd get through the day barely managing, but it's not the end of the world. it's the fact that he promised, swore, for weeks on end that he could remember himself. that he didn't need his parents as a concrete foundation anymore. his life was his life, and he guessed he over estamated the ability to hold up his own metaphorical barbell. still, unable to answer, out of pure fear that zee would turn out a disappointment was way scarier then the lack of ritalin to him.

mark wrapped up his verbal exchange and returned to his respectful place at the table, "what goes on?" he glanced around at everyone else arriving back to the table as well, scanning his eyes over the six people. he then looked fully to his left, catching sight of his son leaned back in his chair, still toying with his fork, occasionally gently poking his knee with it. mark shared a look with amy before she picked up her phone, shooting a text to mark. zack looked between them cautiously, finding it unusual that they were texting instead of just talking. he raised an eyebrow subtlety, soon continuing his fidgeting. mark expressed a face of realization and concern, mouth swishing side to side while he tracked his thought process. he waited until he had the right thing to say before he messed up and said something he was going to regret.

zack attempted to sneak a glance at his father, but quickly shot his attention towards the fork once again when he realized that mark was looking directly at him. mark leaned his elbow on the table, holding his thumb under his chin, and the rest of his fingers placed on his lips. the other arm resting on the table absent mindedly.

"bud,"

no, no no no no stop. 

zack couldn't help but flush red in the face. he was going to cry. he felt it. this was it. a wave washed over his helpless mind, with feeling ill at ease. the boy was able to feel it in his head. he felt his head fall heavy with dizziness. thank everything that no one was paying attention to him other than his parents. he couldn't imagine how he'd behave if random people were watching him.

"look at me." mark's low voice sounded so genuine. so, bare and raw. there was nothing else other than a low octave and significance.

this, as it would anyone, caused his hands to shake. zee shifted forward, fixating on the ice in his glass as if it was the most interesting thing ever.

"zackery, look at me." mark commanded, clear as day, tone serious and with depth. zack obeyed immedietly, whipping his head around to mark, clearly in a bad state. his leg shook as he moved his hands to his lap, squeezing his hands until his knuckles faded white and dug his nails into his skin.

"ah-ah," he scolded briefly with care, "don't do that bud, you'll hurt yourself." mark clicked his tongue before talking, watching as zack was quick to sit on his hands. which was soon disregarded, as they traveled back upwards to the table, folding them and sinking his head into them.

this was the worst. the absolute worst.

"you forgot?" mark's question was rhetorical, obviously. mark raised his eyebrows and patiently waited for a response from the wavy haired boy. which, surprisingly, he got. zack sat upwards and shrugged his shoulders, refusing to look at mark. the shrug was taken as a no, given, it was clear that he had overlooked the one thing he was supposed to recall.

he turned his attention to the floating ice in his water cup once more placing his arms in his lap, and his chin directly on top of the table.

mark sat in silence and stillness, letting the chatter around him become more of a thought than a distraction. he focused on observing zack's behavior and body language, bringing both of his fists to his mouth, folding them together against his face. mark watched as zee audaciously imitated obliviousness and drew finger patterns on his silky dark slacks.

it wasn't a big deal, at all, as mentioned before, one day lacking prescription wasn't all that bad. mark was just worried. dad instincts, you know? it wasn't the pills he worried about, it was his son. he knew how difficult it was for him when he couldn't be up moving and doing what he pleased. he knew the extent of how bad it could really get for zack, how foggy his mind could get, how back and forth his emotions went, how hard it was to just be awake. and mark couldn't bare to watch his child be eaten alive by this.

"are you okay?" mark's words poured out gently, sounding like how strawberries taste. he maintained delicate dialogue, shifting his head down see zack better.

at this, zack broke. he felt his nose start burning and his vision became cloudy. mark's expression changed like a finger snap. he didn't even wait for answer.

"c'mere bud, c'mon." mark lifted zack out of his seat, to which zack responded by shoving his head into mark's shoulder and clinging onto him.

as the two of them walked over to the exit door, mark felt zack's soft sobs on his neck and shoulder, feeling the tears soak through his white collared button down.

he ran his hand up the back of zack's hair. he knew this calmed him down the fastest. zack's small back was warm, a layer of sweat down his spine that hadn't quite reached the surface of his skin yet.

"shh, it's alright bud, i'm not mad, you're okay. everything's okay." mark's low voice was a lot more comforting now that it wasn't being obliterated by negative emotions.

they arrived at the exit door and mark pushed it open with his free hand, walking out and immediately returning the hand to his son's back. pacing the parking lot a bit, at this time the stars had just come out. eventually, zack became exhausted of crying and let himself gather.

"talk to me, bud, what's going on?" mark asked gently, letting zack down on the curb to sit, where mark sat next to him.

the small boy found himself kicking rocks around, "i forgot,"

mark adjusted his hair, moving it out of his eyes, "yeah, you did. but that's okay. everyone forgets things sometimes. it's not worth fussing over."

"but i promised. and i forgot. and now you and mom are upset at me for messing up." he mumbled, sliding the bottom of his shoe across the pavement. 

mark had been genuinely confused and taken aback by this, "woah, backtrack, what? who said we were upset at you? you didn't take your medication for one day. it's not that big of a deal, zee." he shifted his eyes back and forth between zack's sliding foot and his face.

"it's not even about the medicine anymore, dad. it's the fact that i swore. i told you that i could do it, and then i didn't. i just feel like i made you disappointed in me and i can't stop thinking about it. i don't even know why you wanted me here, i'm not being helpful or anything." zack didn't think before letting that all slip out. he wanted to crawl inside of a hole and be left alone.

"you're kidding."

"not really?"

"no, i, okay. i am not disappointed in you whatsoever. mom is not disappointed in you whatsoever. we aren't upset, we aren't angry, it's completely okay, bud. you swore, yes, and it seems like you're putting a ton of pressure on yourself, but it's okay. you don't need to worry about it. you didn't mess up, you didn't ruin anything, it was a simple mistake. and it was barely even a mistake. you just forgot. dude, even i slip up sometimes. everyone does. no one is perfect. oh, and while i'm at it, you contributed so much to this event. of course i wanted you here." he finished, watching as zack cocked his head and furrowed his tiny eyebrows.

"like how?"

"... do you remember, i'm pretty sure it was like, the second night of filming, and everybody was getting super frustrated and tired? but you kept us all laughing and smiling. you, as a nine year old, who was clearly tuckered out and exhausted, sacrificed your energy to keep us motivated and on our feet. i remember multiple people coming up to me throughout the night telling me how proud they were of you and your ability to keep pushing through even though you almost fell asleep several times. you. no one else did that. that was all you." mark's voice was breathy and passionate, he got riled up and happy talking about how proud he was of zack.

zack smiled for the first time that night, beginning to giggle a bit. he went in for a hug and mark quickly accepted, feeling good about himself for calming his son down and making him happy again. "are you good to go back inside?" mark asked, still holding onto zee, "no. not just yet." he replied with a smile, easing his shoulders down and enjoying this moment.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope this was decent lol, also i'm aware this is on wattpad btw!! i posted it there first.


End file.
